‘I was made to drink chemical’

Durban - A young Umlazi man who was allegedly beaten along with a friend and made to drink a chemical after being accused of stealing a braai stand has spoken of his ordeal.

Njabulo Mwandla, 20, is still recuperating at a Durban hospital after the January 21 incident in which he and his friend, Ngcebo Dube, 22, claimed to have been attacked by several angry residents for approximately 10 hours.

The pair had been accused of stealing a braai stand and boots from the yard of one of the residents.

Mwandla said the man who attacked him with the chemical was the one he most wanted to face the law.

“I would have handled being beaten, but the only reason I’m still here in hospital is because of that chemical,” he said.

“The chemical was in a yellow five-litre container, and the person that was handling it had on rubber gloves, and I remember seeing that it read ‘super heat’ on the outside,” Mwandla said.

“It was about eight or nine people that were beating us. I saw some of their faces, but there was also a point where my face had been covered with a towel and water was poured over me,” he said, adding he was beaten with sticks, planks and a beer bottle.

Four people have been arrested for the alleged assaults and are expected to apply for bail in the Umlazi Magistrate’s Court today.